Philippa Baker-Hogan was having her hair done yesterday morning, buying a new pair of shoes and being loaned a dress.
The prestigious Halberg Awards are a pretty swish affair - they even had Rachel Hunter prowling the red carpet - and the Wanganui councillor, health board representative and rowing legend had to look the part for her induction into New Zealand's Sports Hall of Fame.
The first Kiwi woman to win a World Rowing Championship, Baker-Hogan and her doubles partner Brenda Lawson were accorded the accolade at sport's night of celebration at Auckland's Sky City last night.
It made a welcome break from battles over maternity services being moved to Palmerston North and debates over council prayers.
"To be the first women rowers in the Hall of Fame is special - it's an honour and a privilege," said Baker-Hogan as she prepared to join a hallowed list of just 160 famous names.
"And it is nice to remind people of what Brenda and I achieved. We came from an amateur - or, at best, semi-professional - era, one that set the foundations for the success we are seeing now in New Zealand rowing.
"Many wonderful women rowers have followed, like the Evers-Swindell twins, and there seems to be a consistent flow of them, including Wanganui rowers like Rebecca Scown and Sarah Gray."
Baker-Hogan, who swept up 19 NZ titles in her illustrious career, made history when she won World Championship gold in the single sculls in Vienna in 1991.
That was in a lightweight boat and to realise her dream of Olympic gold, she had to switch to heavyweights which prompted her to team up with Lawson.
They were fourth at the Barcelona Games of 1992 before becoming world double scull champions in 1993 and 1994. The Olympic quest eluded them, however, when they finished sixth in Atlanta in 1996.
Baker-Hogan, who grew up in Cambridge, took her inspiration from Stephanie Foster, who won New Zealand's first world championship medal.
"She was the start of our female rowing legacy - she showed what could be achieved.
"And then there was Robin Clarke, who won a world champs medal and a Commonwealth gold, and Nikki Payne and Lynley Hannan, who got our first women's Olympic medal."
When her coach got a job with the Swiss national squad in 1992, Baker-Hogan looked around for who could take her to the next level.
"I saw what Richard Tonks was doing with a group of women in Wanganui and decided to move here. He changed us from a lightweight double to a heavyweight double.
"He was a great coach, and he would do whatever it took. He would work all night at the tannery, finish at 3am, and then meet us at the Union Boat Club a few hours later.
"He treated everyone the same, whether you were a club rower or an Olympian - if you put the work in, you got his respect."
The Hall of Fame citation records: "It was undoubtedly the dogged determination of Philippa Baker, and later Baker and Brenda Lawson, that set the benchmark, along with the coach they sought out in Wanganui, Richard Tonks, that cemented the arrival and force to be reckoned with - New Zealand women's rowing - as we see it today.
"They helped build the next significant generation of female rowers; a generation who have and are becoming household names."
Baker-Hogan is no stranger to the Halbergs. She picked up the acclaimed award in 1991 - when she was also NZ Sportswoman of the Year - and, with Lawson, in 1994 when they were named NZ Team of the Year. Her gongs also include an MBE for services to rowing and membership of the Wanganui Hall of Fame.
Now she joins other Wanganui-ites such as cycling's Gary Anderson and rowing's Billy Webb, Trevor Coker and Simon Dickie in the national institution which is based in Dunedin.
And she also joins her older sister, Erin Baker, a renowned triathlete and former Halberg winner, as a Hall of Fame member.
So it was appropriate that it was Erin who was lending her the dress for last night's celebration.